my first entry

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Ive finally got a chance to do this travelblog thing. I don’t think it will be as exciting as Russ and Debs, so sorry in advance.
Mainly, the past 2 weeks have been spent getting used to this place and the various unique aspects to living in Joburg. Everywhere you go you are fully aware that you are not living in a normal place. I am actually staying in a flat in Benoni, about 50k’s from Central Joburg, which is probably a bit better than Joburg itself.
The flat is seperate to a house owned by Dave’s uncle and is on the same property, in a housing area with guards at a boomgate. We have a pass on our car which lets us through. There are 2 gates like this, and the rest of the roads are all fenced off so there is no other way in.
Inside, the area is quite nice, though the security is still pretty formidable. There are armored guards who patrol the area. The fence surrounding the property is about 12 ft high, and we have a full armed response security system with a remote controlled panic button. The flat has bars and security doors everywhere. Sometimes I feel like I am living in a prison. Still, we have it quite good really, it is one of the more secure places in the area. A lot of houses that don’t have the security that we do have razor wire or an electric fence surrounding the top of their normal fences.


Dave and I have been spending a lot of time with his parents and relatives, I think I have met just about everybody now. Right now, im sitting in the loungeroom of his parents house while his mom and her friend are planning what we need for our trip to Kruger on Wednesday. Yesterday we drove 200km to visit his grandfather, and on the way back Dave pulled over on the highway so I could have a look one of the townships. The townships are communities of black people who build their own basic shelter out of whatever they can find (wood, iron etc) as they cant afford housing. Some townships have electricity like the one we went past. Many don’t. Dave says fire is a big problem, as if something catches fire it will rip through the whole township very quickly. I asked him if we could go inside one, so we are planning to do this when we get back from Kruger.

We have arranged a poker afternoon for Tuesday (the 2nd) which will actually be today by the time I send this. Last time we played, it went for 6 hours and came down to Roger and I. For those interested (Dad, Russ) he finally beat me with a higher straight- JQK on the table, me with a 9 & 10 and Rog with a 10 & Ace. But I managed to take Jason out, he was down on his chips so he went all in on a full house- Aces over 3’s. I had Aces over 9’s. He couldn’t believe it!

We decided to play a joke on Dave when he went to the bathroom. We fixed the cards so it looked like he couldn’t loose, a full house, Aces over Queens. But we gave Roger Aces over Kings, and me, four Aces. Then we took Dave for everything he had (quite a stack), while he sat there and sweated. Then we spend the next 5 minutes laughing at him (poor Dave).

Not much else has happened. Dave is currently looking for a job. My friend from England arrived in Durban yesterday, so we may take a trip there to see her before Christmas. Hopefully soon I will have some interesting things to write about (after Kruger Im sure)

Kel

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